Quasimodo goes to a fitness class
by SummertimeRose
Summary: Just a mini story about Esmeralda asking Quasi to come along to a fitness class. It's very random and i only just thought of writing it when i went to one a couple of days ago. It just shows how little things like going to a fitness class can be a pretty big deal for Quasi. Set in modern day. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Hey Quasimodo!" came the sound of Esmeralda's cheery voice on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, hi Esmeralda! How are you?" spoke Quasimodo in a tone that was equally as jolly.

"Good thanks but enough about me. Ok, basically, what are you doing this Friday?"

Quasimodo laughed at her cheerfulness before a frown suddenly grew upon his face, having just taken in what Esmeralda had said. _What am I doing this Friday?_ Though he had been home-schooled for all his life so he didn't have a clue how other teenagers usually talked, Quasimodo knew instantly what Esmeralda wanted him to do with her question- go outside. Of course Quasimodo had been outside before but he still always tried to avoid going out as best as he could. Occasionally he would walk to the local park and back for some fresh air but the walk was always no more than five-ten minutes and usually took place well into the evening so hardly anyone was out too. He did, however, go out every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday to ring the extremely heavy bells at the Cathedral not too far from his house but he always went by car which lessened the chance of him being seen by anyone since he always ducked in the back seat for the entire journey.

He wouldn't even have anyone calling him at all had he not wondered down from the Cathedral's bell tower one day a couple of weeks ago to listen to a particular interesting sermon. He had been listening from a safe distance as to not be seen by the church-goers when he spotted a beautiful tanned-skinned teenage girl suddenly glide past him, wearing white and red robes which implied that she was part of the church choir. Her separation from the other choir singers also meant that she was late. She had stopped abruptly from noticing something out of the corner of her eye when she saw Quasimodo hiding in an eave in the wall. She, of course, was a little shocked by his appearance at first but soon relaxed and grew intrigued by the Cathedral's bell ringer. He, too, felt grew more relaxed from being around another human being. After chatting for a very long time for the extent of the entire sermon and a bit after, the two grew very fond of each other and became very good friends. Before Esmeralda left to sing in her choir, they promised they'd keep in contact.

Quasimodo was immensely ashamed of his appearance. He had looked the way he did ever since birth. He considered himself very ugly. His 'father', Claude Frollo, even called him ugly on a day to day basis which, of course, did not boost the lad's self-esteem one bit. He would never look at himself in the mirror but on the off chance that he did was by force from accidently looking down as he crossed a particularly large puddle on his occasional walks to the park or from catching a glimpse of himself in the rear-view mirror of the car on his way to the Cathedral. The bulbous, tetrahedron nose, the large growth over his left eye, the crooked teeth and the great camel-like hump on his back never changed with these rare glimpses.

After spending a few seconds looking away from the receiver in thought, Quasimodo was brought back to reality when he heard the voice from the other end say his name several times before now resorting to shouting it.

"Um... w-what's happening on Friday?" asked Quasimodo at last in a quiet tone.

"Welcome back to earth. Well, it's just I'm thinking of trying out this new class at my gym and don't really want to start it alone soooo I was wondering if you would want to maybe come along with me."

Quasimodo closed his eyes slowly. He was right. A gym class. People. _Lots and lots_ of people. What really got him thinking was why Esmeralda was asking _him_ to go with her. Though he had never told Esmeralda how his mission in life was to avoid being around people at all times, he still would have thought she'd had guessed that he hated public company from knowing what he looked like. But, in a way, Quasimodo was quite glad that she seemed to look past his unfortunate appearance and view him as just any other 16 year old. She really was a true friend if she was able to do that. But he still remained unconvinced about Friday.

"Err... Esmeralda, I...don't think that's such a good idea, I..." continued Quasimodo in a quiet voice.

"Oh come on! You can't seriously think that I didn't notice your arms when we first met, Quasimodo, please! You must go to the gym PLENTY to look the way you look- ripped that is!"

Quasimodo couldn't help laughing out loud at this. She obviously hadn't seen the bells at the Cathedral. A gym wouldn't get you nearly enough of a work out as ringing those insanely heavy bells four times a week would. Quasimodo now sat down on the living room sofa that he had been standing next to for all this time. He would have to put some serious thought into this. Of course he would get stares and of course he would feel unbelievably uncomfortable but the fact that Esmeralda had asked for him personally to come along with her to her class suddenly made all those things not matter to him anymore. He had decided.

"Well...oh... alright, I'll come along" declared Quasimodo at last.

"Yes! Ah, brill, brill, brill. Awesome! Ok, do you know where Northshore Leisure Centre is?"

Quasimodo considered for a moment before remembering that he had briefly noticed a sign that read that exact name when in the car to the Cathedral one morning.

"Yeah, I think I do. Is it quite near the Cathedral?"

"Yep, literally like two roads away. Great! Meet me at the entrance. There are two entrances but one's being refurbished so everyone's using the car park one at the moment so meet there. The class is at six o'clock so meet, say...ten minutes before. Thank you so much again, Quasi. See you on Friday!"

"Great, see you then" spoke Quasimodo before waiting for the _click_ sound at the other end to signal she had put the phone down. He took some time to place it back into its holster before staring at the now disconnected phone, playing back the last five minutes in his head. Should he really have said yes to that? It was a pretty big step, after all. He shook his head slightly, telling himself that he was doing it for the one and only true friend he had.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Dinner that night was more uncomfortable than usual. His 'father', Claude Frollo was always tired from his job. He was BMP so Quasimodo was always the one cooking the meals since Frollo wouldn't get home till the evening and by then it would already be too late to start preparing a meal. Quasimodo knew Frollo wasn't his real father but he tried to treat him like one all the same. His mother was married to Frollo but died when giving birth to Quasimodo. She was already pregnant with Quasimodo when they had married. Frollo had initially thought her child was really his, which could have been the reason why he decided to marry her in the first place, until after Quasimodo's birth when his dying mother chose to finally be honest with Frollo by telling him that he wasn't her son's real father. Quasimodo knew Frollo would have been fuming which could easily have led him to disown Quasimodo but he now had custody of the boy, being step father, which allowed him to receive very large amounts of money to help raise him. Being a very big fan of money, Claude Frollo finally accepted.

Frollo had never at all treated Quasimodo like a son, or even a step son. He was immensely cruel to him on a day to day basis and no matter how tired he was from work, Frollo always found energy to ridicule and taunt Quasimodo for absolutely no reason at all. Frollo, in particular, sneered at Quasimodo for his appearance. Quasimodo was constantly reminded by Frollo of his 'hideousness'. Terms like "monster", "fiend", "hideous", "deformed" and "repulsive" were used very often. It was Frollo's constant reminders of his appearance that led Quasimodo to hate going into the outside world. Being home-schooled was such a relief for Quasimodo since he didn't need to ever step foot outside the house to gain an education. Claude Frollo worked full-time so he couldn't properly sit down and teach Quasimodo but he did leave various educational books and sheets for him which Quasimodo would then have to recite back to Frollo when he got home. Most of the time, however, Quasimodo would look at educational websites on the internet which would always prove very informative and instructive. Quasimodo was, after all, exceedingly intelligent. He particularly found the History websites the most interesting.

Quasimodo had been too exhausted from second guessing himself constantly about Friday so dinner that night was just tomato soup with two slices of wholemeal bread and butter on the side.

"So, Quasimodo, I hope you have had a productive day today. I found an old Philosophy and Ethics text book in the attic and left it on the kitchen counter for you to read."

"Oh yes, thank you very much, I read through most of its chapters" replied Quasimodo after hastily swallowing a scolding spoonful of soup which now began to burn his throat.

"Good. I shall expect you to reiterate its content to me after dinner, providing you _have_ done so"

"Certainly, that would be fine"

Quasimodo considered telling Frollo of his plans for Friday there and then but knowing what would come next made him change his mind. It wasn't like Quasimodo was forbidden from leaving the house; it was just that Frollo preferred to have Quasimodo stay at home to study. Quasimodo had never before complained since he loved being at home by himself where he was safe. So he decided to not tell Frollo about Friday and just go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

That Friday afternoon, Quasimodo rummaged around his shoe box of a room to find any kind of sportswear. He didn't own any proper sports clothes, as he didn't take part in sport besides ringing the bells which he always stayed in his usual clothes for. This was a disaster. He couldn't just turn up to a fitness class in his jeans, t-shirt and zip-up jumper. All the t-shirts and jumpers he owned had to have been specially made to accommodate his hump. On top of that, the sleeves of his t-shirts and jumpers also had to be altered since his arms were now too broad and muscular to fit into ordinary- sized sleeves.

_This is ridiculous_ thought Quasimodo as he knelt down to empty the clothes in his drawers in his hope to find something sporty. He considered whether Frollo had any sports clothes but remembered how much he was into education and instruction. To him, sports were counterproductive of learning. Typical, why couldn't he have had someone like ... as a stepfather?

Having no success with finding any sportswear, Quasimodo decided to just find an outfit that looked the sportiest. After going through the pile of clothes on his floor, he eventually found a pair of plain, dark grey shorts and a plain dark green t-shirt. Quasimodo tried them on to see how they felt. The dark green t-shirt was really old and he hadn't worn it for a while so it felt quite tight on him but the shorts were, thankfully, reasonably baggy. He then fumbled through his shoes to find a simple pair of trainers which he also tried on to check if they still fitted. _Finally_. He knew he'd look utterly ridiculous but he shook his head several times, again, telling himself who he was doing this for.

At around 5:30, Quasimodo gathered his clothes and trainers in a carrier bag and headed to the front door. He stood where he was, just staring at the door in preparation for what he was about to do until he gathered enough courage to undo the latch, unlock the door, open it and step out. He knew exactly where the leisure centre was so he luckily didn't have to worry about asking anyone for directions. He paced pretty fast along the path to the main streets in order to make this unpleasant journey as quick as possible. As he neared the street, he realised how busy it all was still. All the shops appeared to be open still which made them packed with shoppers. _Brilliant_ thought Quasimodo as he now reached the crowded city square. He decided to keep his head down as low as he could to hide himself from any attention as much as possible. But, unfortunately, this didn't keep him from being noticed.

As he became a part of the crowds of shoppers, he gradually began to hear anxious whispers and mutters as people passed him. He didn't look up once, keeping his face as low to the ground as possible. "Oh my!" he heard a person proclaim as they passed him. "What the hell is that? What's that on his back?" he heard another announce as they neared him. "Look at him!" and "look at his face!" also issued from others in the crowd. Though he didn't look up, he could tell by everyone's feet that they were going out of their way just to avoid passing next to him. He constantly told himself in his head that he would be there very, very soon.

At long last, Quasimodo came to the sign that directed to Northshore Leisure Centre just a few yards away. He walked those few more yards until he finally reached the car park of the Centre. Quasimodo now dared to look up to take a look at the building. It looked just as he expected. It looked fairly new with large, white lettering on the top which read _Northshore Leisure Centre_, seven or eight steps leading to a see-through, double-door entrance, various fitness posters fastened to the walls, several lights attached to the upper parts of the walls and a crane behind the building which Quasimodo guessed was part of the refurbishment of the other entrance. Quasimodo also noticed how full the car park was. His heart sank a little at this but he had readied himself for this anyway.

He gradually started walking unevenly again until he got to the foot of the stairs that led to the main entrance of the Leisure Centre. He looked down at his watch to see it was now 5:45. He stood very awkwardly as he waited for Esmeralda to arrive. His posture had always been awkward due to his left leg being a lot shorter than his right as well as his hunched back which left him unable to stand up straight but today that wasn't the only reason for his awkwardness. As he continued to stand there, several people darted in and out through the doors, having to pass him on their journey. Quasimodo looked down to the ground again as each of them passed him, not wanting to see their faces at him. Quasimodo had just glanced at his watch again which now read 5:52 when Esmeralda appeared to the right of him. He took a couple of moments to just look at her as she walked towards him, telling himself to never forget just how beautiful she looked. Her thick, dark hair had been tied back which left little curly wisps of hair to fall down loosely. She was wearing very sporty-looking clothes- black dance trousers with a thin line of luminous green down the sides with a matching zip-up jumper and white trainers. To Quasimodo, she looked absolutely perfect.

"Hey, Quasi!" she said cheerily as she reached him at the entrance and gave him a hug. "I'm so pleased you came!"

"Hya, yeah, I'm pleased I came too!" lied Quasimodo, blushing from the unexpected hug.

The two then made their way up the steps and into the entrance. The building looked even more new on the inside than it did on the outside. The floor was all wood which looked like it was polished regularly, there were various vending machines to the right, a buzzing cafe on the far right, a mini shop on the left and the reception desk directly in front of them. It was just as packed as Quasimodo anticipated it would be. The instant he arrived through the doors with Esmeralda, he felt the stares.

Esmeralda seemed to have been here before, as, without hesitation, she strode up to the reception desk ahead of them- Quasimodo tailing behind her nervously. The receptionist looked a very stern woman. She had long, sandy hair that was tied up in a neat pony tail and was wearing light blue uniform with the Centre's logo on the right pocket. She looked up upon hearing footsteps coming towards her but gave a sudden loud gasp at the sight in front of her. She continued to just stare at Quasimodo from behind her desk, narrowing her eyes as though believing she was imagining what she saw. Her cold eyes fixed on him made Quasimodo feel even more uneasy than he already was. Esmeralda, from beside him, cleared her throat slightly to get the woman to stop staring at Quasimodo and to get her attention.

"Can I help you?" asked the woman slowly to Esmeralda, now not acknowledging Quasimodo's presence at all since she now only looked at Esmeralda or in her direction.

"Yes, two people for the body pump/attack class at six" spoke Esmeralda.

"That will be £6"

Esmeralda produced her purse, about to give the money, when something she realised made her stop.

"Do you mean £6 for two people?" enquired Esmeralda.

"No, £6 will get one person into the class" spoke the woman slowly again.

Quasimodo, standing slightly behind Esmeralda, furrowed his eyebrows.

Esmeralda motioned to Quasimodo and herself as she explained, "but there're two of us."

The woman finally looked at Quasimodo before eyeing him in the same way Frollo did before addressing him.

"_You're_ going are you?"

Esmeralda also furrowed her eyebrows at the question.

"Yes, we're _both_ going" said Esmeralda simply with a hint of irritation in her voice.

The receptionist continued to glare at the shrinking Quasimodo until she sighed, accepted the money for two people for the class and gave Esmeralda both the tickets.

"What a little cow" murmured Esmeralda to Quasimodo as they made their way to the changing rooms so Quasimodo could change. Quasimodo couldn't help but laugh a little at this.

Once they reached a slightly narrow, carpeted corridor, Esmeralda signalled to the men's changing rooms for Quasimodo to get changed.

"Meet me out here in five minutes!" called Esmeralda to Quasimodo from the other side of the wall, now back to her usual cheerful tone.

Esmeralda couldn't help but grin in amusement as she saw him step out from the changing room, wearing the tight green t-shirt and baggy shorts. He tried to make the t-shirt appear less tight on him but was having no success.

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Esmeralda as she began to laugh. "That's quite something!"

Quasimodo jokingly made a face at her. "Granted, it's a little small for me but this is all I had!"

"No, I mean it, you look fit!"

"Hmm?"

"It's just you can really see your muscles through that t-shirt"

"Oh..." said Quasimodo as he examined his arms. He then flexed them whilst jokingly pulling a look of pride and smugness which made Esmeralda laugh even more.

Esmeralda teasingly punched his rock-hard arm before they both headed to the dance studio down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was two minutes before the class was due to begin when Esmeralda found the body attack/pump class in the dance studio. The room was quite large with the same flooring as the main reception and had large bricks on the walls which were painted a light green colour. To Quasimodo's delight, there didn't seem to be any mirrors.

The room was already packed with people getting their things ready for the class. Upon hearing the door open, most of them looked round with curiosity but upon seeing the sight in its frame made them keep their focus. The rest of the class who had not looked up at the sound of the door to begin with had begun to stare too. The entire room was now looking at Quasimodo.

Esmeralda strode in whereas Quasimodo just stood in the door frame, paralysed with nervousness at the many eyes fixed upon him. He gradually dared to look up and around him. Many were looking at him with anxiety, many with disgust and only a few were looking at him with pity. He decided to copy Esmeralda and stride in as confidently as he could to the corner of the room where she was getting out her bottle of water and towel. She looked up at him and smiled. He returned the smile gratefully.

"So, ever done a fitness class before, Quasi?" asked Esmeralda whilst stretching her hamstring.

"No, I haven't actually...this should be interesting..."

"Oh don't worry; it's just like the gym so you should feel right at home"

Quasimodo, again, didn't bother to correct Esmeralda, as he now spotted what must be the teacher making her way to the front and sorting out the stereo. She looked a fairly young woman, probably late twenties or very early thirties, with a slim frame and dyed long brunette hair that was kept in a tight pony tail. From seeing the woman's profile as she bent down to sort out the CDs, Quasimodo could tell she looked friendly. This gave him a slight boost in confidence.

After taking off her jumper to reveal a simple black t-shirt with a logo Quasimodo didn't recognise on the right side of her chest, Esmeralda gestured they both move forward to join the back row. Quasimodo was glad that she chose to stay at the back of the room. Quasimodo just stood awkwardly in the line, clenching his fists every now and again to tell himself that he could do this. The people standing next to and nearest to him were still shooting glances at him but he told himself to just keep looking ahead at the instructor.

"Ok, I think we're just about ready to start!" shouted the instructor when she'd decided she was fully ready. "Hello everyone, my name's Becky and welcome to body attack/ pump- the class that _will_ get you into that bikini you've been dying to show off at the beach this summer. And for the men here...well, I'll just say that you, too, will soon look great- in your bikinis! Ok! Anyway, let's see if we have anyone new with us today..."

The woman scanned the room of people poised in front of her. She smiled at the faces she recognised but her smile faded and her eyes stopped abruptly when she began to scan the back row.

"Oh my..." muttered Becky as her eyes landed on Quasimodo. The very unusual sight in front of her made her gasp slightly. She continued to just stare at him in wonder. _Why did she have to do that in front of everyone_ thought Quasimodo as he darted his eyes to the other walls. And, of course, everyone else in the room noticed her behaviour and immediately followed her gaze.

The instructor cleared her throat and averted her eyes after noticing the frightened expression on the boy's face. "Excuse me everyone, sorry about that. Ok, where was I? Yes, we do have some new faces- welcome, welcome. Now... let's begin!"

The instructor bent down to switch on the CD player, causing the room to be filled with some sort of upbeat music Quasimodo didn't recognise. Esmeralda gave Quasimodo another smile of encouragement, which Quasimodo returned appreciatively, before beginning to follow the moves of the instructor.

This was probably the most embarrassing thing Quasimodo had ever done. Esmeralda looked like an angel as she copied the moves perfectly with the occasional sway of her hip to accompany the steps. There couldn't have been more of a contrast between Esmeralda and himself. As Esmeralda was spot on with every single step, Quasimodo couldn't have been more out of time. He tried to follow the instructor's steps as best as he could but the moves always changed so abruptly that Quasimodo found himself doing completely different steps to the rest of the class. He couldn't wait for the class to end so he could get out of this humiliation. He was also very aware of the instructor shooting frequent glances at him from her spot at the front of the room. The occasional momentary look he made to her showed she seemed fairly nervous around him, as her eyes appeared to shoot hastily to the back wall every time she saw Quasimodo glimpse at her.

At very long last, after continuing to feel like an absolute idiot as he attempted each move, the dance bit of the class was finally over. Quasimodo couldn't feel more delighted when the instructor finally announced this to the room.

He followed Esmeralda to the corner of the room where she was gulping down her bottle of water. Though she looked tired and her hair was beginning to come out of her pony tail, Quasimodo thought she never looked more gorgeous. He couldn't help gazing at her as she drank her water. Quasimodo completely forgot to bring water from being so nervous about the class so he was thankful when Esmeralda offered him her own.

"Hey...look at you out there...huh...you were very...good" spoke Esmeralda through heaving long breaths in and out.

Quasimodo smiled vaguely at how funny she sounded before making a face of utter disagreement.

"Oh...come on... you only think that because you were next to me; anyone would feel they did rubbish when compared to me" said Esmeralda, sniggering as she playfully punched Quasimodo's broad arm.

After a few minutes, the perky voice of the instructor filled the dance studio once more.

"Ok everyone, once you've had a cool down, if you'd like to grab your mats we'll now begin the second section of the class- our floor routines."

At this, the empty space in the centre now gradually began to fill once more with people laying their mats down on the floor in front of them. Neither Esmeralda nor Quasimodo brought a mat so Quasimodo followed Esmeralda to the other side of the room to collect two. Quasimodo copied exactly what Esmeralda did as she gracefully laid her own purple- coloured mat upon the wooden floor in front of her. He had no idea what they were going to do with these mats until he noticed everyone around him was sitting cross-legged on them- so he did the same. His mat was a lot less comfortable on the hard floor than he thought it would be.

Once the instructor laid her own navy professional-looking mat on the floor at the front, she began showing the class what to do.

_Oh no_ thought Quasimodo as he saw what the instructor wanted the class to do. No way was he going to be able to do what she was now demonstrating. The instructor had positioned herself into a pose that involved lying on your back with both knees bent and taking both arms above your head and onto the bit of the mat behind you to then push your body up into a bridge shape. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it due to the fact that his spine was so misshapen that he wasn't able to bend his back backwards. He now became very nervous once again, knowing that everyone would see him struggling and laugh at the cause of it. He _really_ didn't want the attention.

But Quasimodo still lay down on his mat, like everyone else, to start the routine. The music played once again, upbeat as ever, which signalled everyone to begin. Thankfully, the routine started off with everyone starting on their hands and knees. Quasimodo actually enjoyed this and found it very easy since it required a lot of arm and leg muscle which he had a lot of. They now had to stay in plank for four whole minutes which, again, Quasimodo found incredibly easy. His body was just as straight and still as an actual plank whilst everyone around him was either shaking madly or had already collapsed onto their mats. He heard Esmeralda make a noise from his left which made him spin his head round to face her. She gave him a look of envy before giving in to her shaking arms and collapsing onto her mat too. He gave her the same joking look of pride and smugness that he had made earlier as he remained absolutely motionless in his plank position. It had been three minutes when the instructor, whilst also still doing the position but now with shaking arms, looked up from her mat to see Quasimodo as the only one still remained in the plank position while everyone was now lying face- down on their mats. She raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes before faintly smiling at him. Quasimodo smiled back; slightly proud of himself.

The four minute mark was signalled when the instructor eventually turned onto her back, gesturing everyone to do the same. This was the bit Quasimodo was utterly dreading and, as he expected, the instructor brought her arms behind her head to push her body up into a bridge position. Everyone followed suit. Quasimodo looked to his left to see Esmeralda, of course, doing a perfect bridge shape with her legs totally straight. She saw him from upside down and copied the joking smug look he had given her a minute ago. This made him snigger which then gave him the confidence and motivation to at least attempt it. So, Quasimodo copied the others by lying on his misshapen back. He then put his arms up over his head and placed his hands onto the bit of the mat behind him. He began straightening his arms so his body could move upwards but this was now causing him great pain in his back, even with it being only three inches off the ground. He attempted to straighten his arms even more but another zap of unbearable pain made his back jerk, making his arms involuntarily give way and causing him to collapse onto his back on the thin mat with a thunderous _thump_.

Though his eyes were closed from the shock of the tumble and the immense back pain, Quasimodo was still able to hear sudden movement to his left followed by the shuffling of feet which announced Esmeralda had got down from her own bridge position and had come to help him. What he also heard, though he really wished he hadn't, was the unmistakable sound of cruel laughter beginning to root from various places around him. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up to see that every single person had come down from their own bridge positions and were sitting on their mats and laughing cruelly at his fall.

Then a man next to him announced loudly to him, "I knew you wouldn't have been able to do that, lad!" before joining the others in pitiless laughter.

Quasimodo had never felt more humiliated in his whole life. This was much worse than getting the steps completely wrong earlier, for sure. The instructor, to Quasimodo's relief and gratefulness, was firmly hushing the laugher whilst telling everyone to continue with their bridge positions. She then smiled at him pityingly before mouthing, "_are you alright?" _to which Quasimodo hastily nodded with a sheepish smile to show his appreciation. He then turned round to Esmeralda to gesture to her that he was alright before deciding to just sit on the mat for the rest of the song.

Quasimodo was very glad that the mat routines were finally over. Only one more section to go. He had no idea what this was yet so, like he did after the dance section, Quasimodo made his way to Esmeralda who was in their corner of the room, stretching her quadriceps with one hand on the wall in front of her for support. Upon seeing Quasimodo limp hastily towards her and upon hearing people still sniggering at him from behind, Esmeralda abruptly got down from her stretch and turned to face her friend.

"Quasi, are you alright? I am so sorry that happened-"

"Oh, yeah I'm fine now, I guess. I always knew I couldn't do anything like that I just...I don't know... I guess I wanted to try it. It was just from my complete stupidity, that's all."

Esmeralda looked at Quasimodo, still concerned for him, before handing him her bottle of water. She waited until he was finished drinking before making her way with him to the back row once again to begin the last section of the class.

"Ok everyone! This last section will _really_ test your fitness so I wish you all good luck! Right, if you'd like to make your way to the right side of the room to collect a barbell each along with your choice of weights to attach onto the ends. Please make sure each end of your barbell is even with weights; you don't want muscle building in only one of your arms!" joked Becky as she, too, went to collect a barbell.

Upon hearing the last bit of the class to be weight lifting, Quasimodo suddenly beamed, knowing this was something he could actually be good at today. It was from those countless years of ringing the local Cathedral's immensely heavy bells that made this easy for him. He decided he would show the people who laughed at him what he could do. Esmeralda, on the other hand, sighed in frustration.

"Hey! This will be right up your street, Quasi! You can teach me how you use these things" laughed Esmeralda as the two collected a barbell each and some rounded weights.

This time, Quasimodo decided to correct Esmeralda.

"Well, actually, I've never used these barbell things either", explained Quasimodo simply. "I've also never been to a gym before."

Esmeralda raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief as she found a barbell for herself and picked up two small circular weights. She then laughed out loud when she saw Quasimodo reach for eight very large weights and begin to screw them onto his own barbell.

"Yeah, of course you don't do this sort of thing" mocked Esmeralda as they headed back to their spots in the back row.

Upon noticing Quasimodo with his barbell on the floor in front of him and the eight very heavy weights screwed onto the ends, some of the class sniggered, greatly pleased that they'd be able to laugh at the strange, deformed boy once more at his ungainliness. However, the majority of the class, though they had been laughing at him earlier, didn't smirk once. Quasimodo looked around to see that the majority of the class were now looking at him with panicked faces. He then saw a few whisper to each other from their distances in their rows. He even spotted a few people point to his arms which he found the most bizarre. But he was pleased all the same since he wanted them to regret what they had done earlier.

Quasimodo turned his head to the front when he heard the upbeat music play once more. The instructor then reached for her own barbell with a small/medium sized weight screwed to both ends before lifting it repeatedly into a bicep curl. She told everyone to do the same.

Esmeralda bent down to reach her own barbell before, too, lifting it into repeated bicep curls. She thought she could handle doing this but the weight gradually began to catch up with her. After a few minutes, her arms were beginning to really ache. She definitely wasn't used to weights. She noticed others had now stopped doing the bicep curls and were having rests. She didn't blame them. She turned to the right of her to see how Quasimodo was getting on with his own weights when something she saw made her eyes widen abruptly.

She saw that Quasimodo, aside from the instructor, was the only one still doing the bicep curls. It truly was a sight to see. With the large muscles in Quasimodo's arms now defined and flexed from doing the curls and the four very large weights on both ends of his barbell made it difficult for Esmeralda to take her eyes off him. The whole class had noticed movement from the corner of their eyes and were now gawping at him with almost impressed faces. The instructor even had her eyes completely wide in awe.

He had done it. Quasimodo wanted to show them and he had. He was, in no way, one to show off in the slightest but he did want to make those who laughed at him regret it a little. And make them regret it he did. Some even had their mouths open as they continued to stare at him.

After shaking her head from her fixed gaze on the unusual boy, the instructor began repeatedly raising her barbell above her head. She motioned for everyone to do the same. After pulling themselves away from staring at Quasimodo, they, with effort, began copying her.

Esmeralda smiled at Quasimodo who, of course, was now seemingly effortlessly raising the enormously heavy barbell repeatedly above his head. She then playfully whispered, "I told you so" to which Quasimodo playfully rolled his eyes before smiling warmly at her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The final beat of the last song had just quietened into a continuous humming sound when the instructor switched off the stereo and began stretching her arms and legs, telling the class to do the same.

"Thank you very much everyone for coming to the class!" announced Becky when she had finished stretching her hamstring. "I hope you found it helpful. This class will be on every week at the same time. I look forward to seeing you then!"

Once again, Quasimodo joined Esmeralda at the corner of the room for the last time.

"Hey, Quasi" greeted Esmeralda cheerfully once Quasimodo had made his way to the corner. He greeted her back. Esmeralda raised an eyebrow upon seeing him. She knew she looked like hell but everyone did after an intense fitness class. What got her was the fact that Quasimodo didn't look the least bit exhausted or sweaty. It was as though he hadn't just lifted the equivalent of almost eight times her weight. She suddenly grew very jealous.

The two were just walking towards the door of the room having packed everything up and put everything away when they both heard the instructor call after them before catching up.

"Hi, I don't think I've properly introduced myself, I'm Becky" spoke the instructor to Quasimodo before holding out her hand to which Quasimodo shook after spending a few seconds just staring cautiously at it.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Quasimodo" he replied.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you too, Quasimodo. Listen...I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. It was wrong of those people. But I also wanted to apologise for bringing the attention to you myself at the beginning of the class. It's just I...well, I wasn't expecting...I mean... I shouldn't have stared at you like that; I could see it bothered you so I'm very sorry."

Both Quasimodo and Esmeralda did not expect that at all. Quasimodo then hastily shook his head before telling her gently how she didn't have to apologise- he was used to it, after all.

"Well, thank you. I also wanted to come over here to just tell you how...how astounded I was just now. Seeing what you just did was absolutely amazing! You're really strong, Quasimodo I mean, ridiculously strong! I couldn't believe my eyes! I mean, I noticed your arms when I first saw you but I had _no_ idea you were _that_ strong, I mean...blimey!"

Quasimodo laughed a little from embarrassment. He wasn't at all used to being praised like this. From his left, Esmeralda was beaming at him.

"So, what gym do you go to?" asked Becky simply to Quasimodo.

He glanced briefly to Esmeralda, making sure she heard his answer.

"I don't go to a gym, actually."

He heard Esmeralda quietly exhale to signal her disagreement. A grin began to form on his lips.

"No, come on now, seriously. What gym?" but Quasimodo shook his head to announce his previous statement.

"Right...ok...then what _do_ you do?"

"Oh, I just ring the bells at the Cathedral. The one two streets away"

Becky raised her eyebrows.

"My word. That makes sense though. From what I hear, those bells are enormous. No wonder you're ripped, Quasimodo!" laughed Becky.

He gave a sheepish smile once more, now beginning to feel his cheeks burning up.

After Becky had enthusiastically asked a few more questions about his bell ringing duties, the three eventually parted.

"It was absolutely wonderful meeting you. I really hope to see you here soon" announced Becky as she began walking back to the front of the room.

Quasimodo smiled and nodded vaguely before following Esmeralda out through the dance studio door.

Once they were both back out the door, Esmeralda teasingly punched his thick arm.

"Hey! Look who's got an admirer?" she laughed.

"What? You're crazy!" laughed Quasimodo too.

He hadn't realised that they were standing in the reception when he noticed people walking past and staring disgustedly at him. Esmeralda noticed this too so she led Quasimodo hastily towards the Centre's main doors, down the stairs and into the car park. He sincerely thanked her.

"Well, thank _you_ so much for agreeing to come. It was wonderful having you there with me. I just hope it was better than you expected it to be."

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world" replied Quasimodo plainly.

Esmeralda beamed at him once more before flinging her arms round him, sending him slightly off balance. He was so much more comfortable with Esmeralda hugging him than he was the first time she did.

The two eventually pulled apart and said their goodbyes to each other. Like she had done the first time they met, Esmeralda promised she'd keep in contact. Quasimodo didn't doubt this for a second. She really was a true friend.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

awww :D thanks very much for reading this story!


End file.
